I Heart Justin
by CleverforClever
Summary: A continuation of 'I3Jalex's' story, 'In Another World'. It is necessary to read the other one first. Alex wishes she and Justin were no longer brother and sister. Then things get all awkward when he falls in love with her. Will Jalex prevail, or will the wizard council banish her from reality for all eternity!


Alex woke up in the morning. The doomed feeling she had the previous night starting to fade. She tried a small spell to see if her family had returned to its previous state, "Blood by nature knows, blood to blood it shows!" Nothing happened, perhaps due to the fact that she did not have her powers back, perhaps because she did it wrong or perhaps because she did not even understand the problem with her magic. There were only two people she could ask help from: Justin, who was acting odd around her, or her father.

Justin came bounding in, looking supremely pleased with himself, "Alex, I have great news! I think I found a way to get your powers back!" He was positively beaming. She was shocked. Of course, he was doing what he was meant to do; fix her problems. She sighed then shook her hair.

"Sorry, it's just… not what I expected. Here I am, a stranger in your home, eating your food, breaking your dolls…" She drifted off here, while he gasped, sputtering on about 'action figures,' but, as usual, he ignored his own discomfort to help someone, even a stranger.

"I checked the wizard family tree, and there's no Gomez family of wizards. Do you know what that means?" She inhaled quickly. She remembered how he had exposed her in the first place, her fear turned to anger. "It means that I can protest your family contest. Everything is not what it seems."

He trailed off here, citing references as Alex's mind raced. He could do it, he would do it, he would get her powers, and she could fix this. Justin pulled his sleeves back and told her he had called the wizard council already. Alex's mind raced with the possibilities. She could have her friends and family, and everything would be okay. But it was not like the wizard council to make such an obvious error.

"You can have your life back," he smiled, then scratched his arm, small red stripes getting longer and larger. A small glow erupted from the back of his arm, Alex's eyes went wide, understanding the threat. Justin's eyes turned to a grimace. He was feeling discomfort.

To cover what was happening to him, Alex grabbed his arm, and turned him to face her. "You don't have to!" She blurted out. A sizzling sound came from his forearm. "C'mon, let's talk about something else…"

He looked at her with a dazed look on his face, only remotely aware that he was bleeding.

"Look, just hold still while I use a trace. Blood by nature knows, blood to blood it shows!" The flash from the end of his wand, and her body flooded with power. The old feeling of power rushed through her, then faded. Nothing happened, again. She knew three things were true; one that there was no way both she and Justin would fail to do a spell right, two, that the wizard council would not allow her to walk free, and three, that she would not give up her hopes.

Her former brother looked crestfallen that he had failed the new, beautiful girl in his life. She could not say anything to make it better. He pulled her in close just like he used to when she was his sister. Something occurred to her, "Hey Justin," She said, wiping away the tears, "I have a question. What if a wizard was trying to get to know her brother better, just to understand why they fought all the time…" He looked encouragingly into her eyes.

Then Max walked in. He scolded Justin absentmindedly about making the 'hot girl' cry. "And people say I'm the rude one!" He cried indignantly.

Alex cleared her eyes in the bathroom. She pulled herself together by sheer will. If her memories were leaving her then maybe she could create a copy, like a clone. Then again, what was happening to her would likely affect the clone.

Maybe there was some really stupid cure, like shoving a pickle somewhere unpleasant or something. The thought of that sent a wave of nausea through her. Magic was so much fun, but sometimes completely lame. It was an impossible situation. Her friend did not remember her, her brothers were attracted to her, and her parents were taking pity on her.

All she needed now was the wizard council to place further restrictions on her.

School was, if anything, better than before. Nobody knew her, so nobody suspected her. It was almost too easy telling Principal Larry Tate that she was actually just running late. Max roved the halls mindlessly, but nobody seemed to notice. Gigi actually went out of her way to invite Alex into her group. When she declined, an audible gasp rose up from the school. "Whatever losers," She snipped, only to be pulled away by a frantic Harper.

"What are you doing? She'll ruin your life!" She gasped, almost crying. Alex looked at her best friend with eyes that only saw fit to fix themselves to portray ambivalence. "Harper, I'm not afraid of her, and you shouldn't be either. I'll be your friend, and you'll be mine, okay?" Alex was arranging her locker so she could make room for more important things; clothes, food, spray paint, etc., when she felt two arms encircle her. At first, the thought of a hug made her uncomfortable. Then Alex realized this was what she had wanted all along.

That afternoon, Justin told her they would be visiting the wizard world. "Don't worry, I have a plan," He had told her confidently. They made their way to city hall. Alex felt less and less confident with each step. She may run into one of the council members, and they would be totally willing to fill him in on the way that she lost her powers.

"Before we go, there's something I need you to have," He pulled out a needle with a red fluid in it.

"What's this?" She asked, disgusted. He looked blankly into her face before responding, "Blood for a tracer spell." She yelped, as it plunged in. He explained why it was important, "I need to find you if we get separated. Just keep near me. It's not like I'm sick or something." Alex's mind raced when she realized what this meant; she and Justin were no longer blood relatives. The thought that a small amount of Russo was in her, put her mind at ease.

It did not take very long for her to realize that Justin already knew what he was doing. He swiftly navigated the corridors, looking carefully for his goal. "Here," He whispered.

She was pulled in behind him. He was rifling through stacked shelves. Alex was vaguely aware of her own time when she had a shelf fall on her. It remind her of something else, "Justin, use a summoning spell." She did not mean to be snarky, but the fact of the matter was that he was doing the same dumb Justin things as before.

"Here I am without, Tempus Turner come out!" whatever it was that he wanted zoomed out of a shelf in the back and into his backpack. They turned to leave, when they ran into Harlem Polish.

"Hello Justin, it's nice to see you," He smiled kindly, "And Alex, how did I know you would be here?"

The trial was quick, in that there was no trial. Justin was hurtled into the back of the room by magic, and Alex took off running. Harlem caught hold of her arm, only releasing her when a red flash of light started ripping blood out of his body.

Justin hoarsely screamed, "Go!" And for once in her life, she listened to him without complaint.

She puffed roughly, knowing that if she was caught again, things would just get worse. There was only one place that would work against a wizard far more powerful than her. She ducked into the girl's bathroom.

Out of breath, and completely shocked to find Victoria King in there. Alex ducked away to a mirror, absentmindedly brushing her hair back. All she needed now was another person to start chasing her. She was shocked to see Justin's face, instead of hers when looking into the mirror. The face spoke, "Alex, use the spell on page 306, trust me."

She dashed into a stall, swiftly turning to the right page, "Return my power, don't make me cower." A flash appeared as a ball of light phased through the door and shimmered in front of her. It was warm, and comforting. She could only hope Justin knew what he was doing. It moved into her, filling her with power.

"Before you go, Vicky," Alex said, speaking to the elder wizard, "There's something I need to show you…"

Justin was bound on the floor, Harlem gloating over his foolish opponent. "You must have realized by now, that the girl you know as Alex is a fake, and a criminal. She lied about her name, and got you to give yourself up for her. If I know her, and I do, she is likely trying to find a way out of the trouble she caused today. Oh, Victoria, you wanted to add something?" He turned, not expecting that the thing she wanted to add was a fist to his face, knocking him out.

A shimmer of light later, and Alex appeared in the woman's place, and started to untie Justin. He looked at her strangely, looking the same way he did when she met him as a small child. Tears came to her eyes, "You can trust me, okay? I did this time spell. I was only trying to fix something, a relationship I broke…" She trailed off here, not able to look at the hurt on his face. Had he guessed again?

"A relationship with me?" He asked quietly. She nodded her head, and suddenly felt his lips on hers. It was shocking to say the least. He helped her up. "C'mon, there's a real powerful reversal spell in this book, it's impossibly powerful."

They ran while the building started to shake. Looking out the window, Alex spotted a twister. It started to suck her away, but Justin held onto her, "Justin, no, I can't do this. I'm sorry, and I love you, but…" She pushed away from him, and fell into the tornado.

Final chapter

"Justin Russo is now a family wizard! Congratulations!" Councilor Rudy congratulated him. "What are you going to do now?" "I'm going to Disney World!" He called his family over. Max was a surprisingly good loser, patting his brother whole-heartedly on the back. It was some time before he managed to get away from his family and friends congratulating him. His best friend Zeke was jumping up and down with his shy girlfriend Harper. His father was laughing loudly, and the cheers were deafening.

Alex watched mutedly, silently cursing the fact that she too could not take part of this celebration. She could see and hear everything, but interfere in nothing. In a sense, this was a most fitting punishment. Instead of ceasing to exist in the sense that she had existed, she was now stuck in a limbo-like state.

Alex was forced to watch Justin, forced to watch him be happy, be healthy, and be better without her. Sure, he had not gotten to kiss Miranda. And he had lost Juliette to the monster hunters… but still, he was winner, and he had no use for her.

Years had passed, dragging on impossibly slow. In a sense, she no longer felt like a Russo, but more as an observer watching a television show, "Justin; the Wizard of Waverly Walk" Or something with similar alliteration. Harper had been the most damaged. After losing Alex, again, she had curled even deeper into herself, which, more peculiar than anything else, had been changed by Justin. He had pulled her out of her reclusive attitude, with a great deal of help from Zeke.

Alex's pride flared up, stating clearly that this alternate (alternate of an alternate?) reality sucked big time. Sure, her family was more stable, and the shop was doing better, but it was boring. Justin was nowhere near as good as he was in her original timeline. He was not as smart, as kind, or as wonderful.

He was barely Justin at all.

Perhaps that was not the worst part. Max was still Max, but her father never had his little princess, her mother did not have a Latina to mentor in her heritage, and never had her proper fifteenth birthday. (a/n my spellcheck can't read Spanish, that must mean it's racist.)

It took Alex some time to realize what made her punishment so bad. She could not feel anything; she could not touch anything, or feel emotions of any kind. Listening to music was no longer fun. Even her memories faded in strength. Her heart no longer beat fast when she saw a cute boy. In fact, it no longer beat at all. Alex no longer needed air, (not that she could even touch the air) or food, not that she could taste it. She could not even sleep, so there was no escape in her dreams. Not that she would likely avoid her living nightmare asleep. She was no happier nor sadder to exist, only capable of love and loneliness. Alex tried hard to smile for her family, especially Justin. "I love you…"

But Justin was not smiling. He had a promise to keep, and he was determined not to fail. Alex followed him to the lair, where he took out Tempus Turner, and twirled his wand. "Here I am without, without blood by nature knows, Alex without blood come out, blood to blood it shows."

A flash of light, and she felt her heart stop, then start. A feeling of warmth spread throughout her body an intake of breath signaling her body to resume its functions. The floor was solid beneath her, and Alex, unaccustomed to weight, fell forward onto her brother.

"Justin," She asked, her eyes swimming with tears, "But how…?"

(Flashback…)

Young Justin followed the pretty girl out of the shop. His father had just taught him the blood to blood spell, which is how he knew who she had really been. Older Alex was running for her life, then the wizard council appeared. "She's finally gonna get it!" He crowed to himself. But it did not fill him with as much happiness as he thought it would. Her face was screwed up the same way his sister's would, but this one was filled with real pain.

He ran all the way home, and opened an old book called Tempus Turner, and looked up time travel. He found the punishment for time-travel, and gasped. Present day Alex walked in the room, and he could not help but ask, "Alex, what would you do if you had no family? What if the wizard council took you away?"

To his surprise, she did not say much at all, "I don't know, I would look for you. You're my brother." His eyes must have betrayed his surprise, "I'd never lose my nerdy brother. You'll always be there with me, no matter what."

She smiled evilly, yet Justin felt intense guilt. All he had thought about for the last few years was getting away from her, and the truth was, she did not want him to go.

He knew he would have to be a full wizard to save her, and that time would be altered so that only the council would know what had happened.

Of course, their records would remain unchanged. So if they had the book… he could use it to save her. All he would have to do is look for it. He dashed through the portal to city hall where he dropped it off.

Alex stared in shock, "You knew I was your sister before kissing me?" She hollered.

He stuttered out an excuse. She started smacking him.

"Alex stop, I'm not your brother, not anymore. We lost that. I managed to use magic to summon back someone that is connected to me. When you used the spell to summon back your magic, there was nothing left to summon because 'Alex Russo' never existed, so you took mine. When you were taken from reality The only way to regain your abilities is to marry a wizard, and the only way back into the family is through marriage. Fact of the matter is; you're not my sister anymore, but we can have a relationship. You can be Alex Russo once more…"

Alex Russo sat at Christmas dinner with her family. Of course, Justin's parents were surprised that he managed to find himself a bride so quickly. She had been given full wizard status, and considering how bad things could have been, felt supremely relieved. Justin explained that she was a wizard that had meddled with time, and lost everything. His version made him out to be a sort of Prince Charming, rescuing the damsel in distress.

She had been changed of course. Her blood was no longer Russo like Justin and Max, but she could hold magic. She had lost the memories of being his sister, and felt glad at that. It would be weird to be married to her brother, and considering their activities, she felt very, very happy nobody really knew she had been his sister. Her time in the twilight of reality had left her shaken, but Justin knew how to stimulate her senses, make her remember she was real again.

Being an observer had left her time to think about family and its nature. Justin loved her, as a friend, as a lover, as a stranger, but at the end of the day, he had always loved her, no matter who or what she was. In retrospect, she did not have to go back in time to figure out where things went wrong. She now lived in a different world, in a different life, but it would always be her and Justin, even in a different world.

"I love you, Alex…"


End file.
